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Monday, May 30, 2011

Captivating

I am mesmerized by that face. I dare you to look away from those eyes; I can't. It's utterly beautiful. And it belongs to a nine-year-old little girl. Her name is Mäda Primavesi and she was painted by Gustav Klimt in 1912.

Mäda Primavesi was the daughter of the banker and industrialist Otto Primavesi, one of the financial backers of the Wiener Werkstätte, and the actress Eugenia Primavesi (née Butschek), whom Klimt painted in 1913. Young Mäda’s portrait was executed in 1912. A series of preliminary pencil sketches, now in public and private collections, show that as the composition evolved, the artist experimented with alternative poses and background motifs. Ultimately, he selected an open, painterly treatment that contrasts with the highly stylized designs adapted for the backgrounds of his fin-de-siècle portraits. The lighthearted, decorative motifs seem particularly appropriate to a nine-year-old sitter.

Here is the full painting:

Read more about the painting, Klimt's pencil drawings from the Albertina's collection and see photos of the Mäda with her father and sisters in About Mäda, written by Katherine Baetjer, Curator, European Paintings, The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

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